by
Jeffrey Angles

by
Kodansha International

GUIDEBOOK

2012

PAPER

This full-color double-sided map includes the entirety of Japan at a scale of 1:500,000, as well as individual maps of Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya and Fuji-Hakone. (JPN209, $14.95)

by
Peter Matthiessen

by
Ian Buruma

HISTORY

2004

PAPER

194 PAGES

A favorite writer with keen insight about Japan, Buruma offers an admirably succinct, dramatic history of Japan's transformation from feudal state to host of the 1964 Olympics, with a focus on World War II. (JPN139, $15.00)

by
John Dougill

by
Kakuzo Okakura

CULTURAL PORTRAIT

2006

PAPER

116 PAGES

A graceful, witty meditation on Japanese aesthetics and culture as reflected through the tea ceremony. A celebrity and cultural ambassador, Okakura was a curator at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. (JPN21, $9.95)

by
Cathy Davidson

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

2006

PAPER

288 PAGES

A thoughtful set of witty reflections on Japan, Japanese culture and the adventure of living overseas by a talented writer who taught at an all-women's university in Japan in the 1980s. (JPN65, $23.95)

by
Bruce Feiler

TRAVEL NARRATIVE

2004

PAPER

321 PAGES

As surprising, helpful and informative as it is funny, this is an insightful account of travels and teaching in Japan. Feiler presents anecdotes on the rituals, personality traits and cultural peccadilloes of the Japanese. (JPN111, $14.99)

by
Alan Booth

TRAVEL NARRATIVE

1997

PAPER

281 PAGES

A revealing, humorous account of the author's 2,000-mile walk north to south from Hokkaido to Kyushu by a wonderfully eccentric British expatriate. Booth is a disarming writer, chronicling his encounters along the byways of rural Japan with farmers, misfits, tramps and others who crossed his path. (JPN11, $16.00)

by
Isabella Bird

TRAVEL NARRATIVE

2005

PAPER

336 PAGES

Bird's narrative of her travels in Japan in 1878, just after the country re-opened its doors to the world. She spent little time on the cities, heading straight out to meet the peasants in their fields. (JPN94, $12.95)

by
Tanizaki Junichiro

LITERATURE

1995

PAPER

530 PAGES

The story of a merchant family in prewar Osaka and the struggle of four beautiful sisters to maintain their position in society after the death of their parents, also made into a delightful film by Ichikawa. (JPN41, $16.00)

by
Shusaku Endo

LITERATURE

1997

PAPER

272 PAGES

This historical novel by one of Japan's best-known modern writers is set in the world of the 17th-century Samurai. A Roman Catholic, Endo explored Christianity and morals in his many novels and stories. (JPN157, $16.95)

by
Yasunari Kawabata
|
Edward G. Seidensticker

LITERATURE

1996

PAPER

147 PAGES

This novella by the great Kawabata may be Japan's best-known literary work, a story of love, grief and redemption. Kawabata's prose is as economical as the tea ceremony itself and very beautiful. (JPN34, $15.00)

More Recommendations

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading
tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the
classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.